Are Americans trashing the English language?
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 06. 2024
- Britons often grumble that Americanisms are creeping into British English. Lane Greene, our language guru, asks where American words really come from-and whether they pose a threat to the Queen's English.
Click here to subscribe to The Economist on CZcams: econ.st/2AqhBvU
Are American's trashing the English language? The Economists language expert, Lane Greene, knows a thing or two about English. Lane is a fan of words, lots of words, and Lane is an American living in London. He's become accustomed to British English slang. But Lane often hears Britons complain that there are too many American words and expressions creeping into British English, these are called Americanisms.
British writer Matthew Engel can't stand Americanisms being used in Britain and even wrote a book about it. But are Americanisms trashing British English?
Daily Watch: mind-stretching short films throughout the working week.
For more from Economist Films visit: econ.st/2Ara5AI
Check out The Economist’s full video catalogue: econ.st/20IehQk
Like The Economist on Facebook: econ.st/2AqUmSm
Follow The Economist on Twitter: econ.st/2ArMHmN
Follow us on Instagram: econ.st/2AqI3oT
Follow us on LINE: econ.st/1WXkOo6
Follow us on Medium: econ.st/2Aq65k7 - Krátké a kreslené filmy
Damn Latin trashing so many European languages.
Wait...
This may be few years late...
Adrian-Cornel Borină
Haha!! Tell the Brits that. Thy olde musst know
Lucas Gabriel, that statement is wrong so many ways lol.
I will go ahead and assume you are struggling with English and didn't actually mean a language creates another language lol.
There are many European languages with little to no influence from Latin: Germanic languages (German lol), Slavic languages (Russian, Polish and others), Greek and other smaller groups. lol
bro stop using internet explorer i thought edge came out back in 60ad! UPGRADE!
Lucas Gabriel he means pre Romance languages
Wrong way round, it would be the pesky romance languages ruining Latin
Brit to Yank: What's wrong with you? Don't you know the King's English?
Yank to Brit: Well, I always thought he was.
And then a bystander pulls out a family tree showing that the last native English King died 1000 years ago lol
Rollin With Uncle Pete Thought he was
Yeah cus shes german
........So wait wasn't the King English? I don't get this, is there something I'm missing, is this some kind of Inside joke or something?
Anarchy Empire kings english just means british english but the joke is that it could mean that the king is not english
Canada: speaks like american, but writes like the british
They should speak like British as well since they're french and British too some extent .
@@ryanhuntrajput474 the only French speaking province is Quebec.
@@ShitLibNPC almost 12.6 million people speak French in Canada as a first Language and 56% of population of Canada can speaks it well as a second language according to canadian census in 2018.🇨🇦
@@ryanhuntrajput474 funny, according to the 2016 census, only 29% of Canadians had a "working knowledge of French."
@@ShitLibNPC I don't know from where did you get your stats and data definitely not from the government of Canada page even Google begs to contrary of your claims but none the less have a nice day.
"I like Americans. They're pretty basic people." That just made me laugh so hard, I don't know why!
Read any Simon Winchester's book, dripping condescension, you will understand why Britain declined.
Yeah, that was a little strange. I'm glad he clarified it, though.
I think he means "down to Earth" because the classic 'stiff upper lip' doesn't exist in America. Notice how he said "excuse my language" -- it's because the older English population are still conservative in nature. In the 50s and 60s when that guy would have grown up, you didn't dare step out of line and be the odd one out in society. America was of course different having thrown away most of the conservative social rules 50 years prior (with the notable exception of segregation)
They've been calling us simpletons since colonial times. The problem is that they're kinda right.
Miroslav Georgiev we may be basic, but our military isn’t. Won’t be laughing then will you?
Brit: "Bloody hell, Webster! What are you doing?"
Webster: "Getting rid of u!"
😅
What is Webster sounds like a name of sewerage cleaner .
@@ryanhuntrajput474 As any certified European will tell you, sir...we Americans 'like' sewage! :) It's hilarious how both sides get so upset about the spellings of words like 'colour' and 'color'...or 'defence' and 'defense'...if a person truly can't decipher the meaning from those words in the context of an English sentence..that person can't read English.
Thats not the point American have no reason to be upset about a language that isnt there but for an Englishman thats different because its their language.
@@boomshakaboom4665 True, but we will continue to use the spellings we learned. We aren't forcing anyone to use them...lighten up!! :)
Lol 1:54 a Brit complaining about a conspiracy to make the world speak one language
Its called esperonto
It's called British colonialism
People adopted our language because it's exceptionally easy to learn and provides a simple framework that can be used and understood by anyone, regardless of their level of skill.
America reinforced the English language by making their No.1 cultural export in television and film. The British empire didn't make people speak one language, native peoples were allowed to keep their local tongues and dialects. However the French empire (which still exists) insists on forcing Africa to speak French as a first language, meanwhile English is more often learned as a second language for education and work purposes...
I thought that was pretty funny too. I was going to write the same comment.
Stephen Byrne lol the irony
cash meh outsside how abou dah!
A perfect example of average North American dialect.
You sound so intelligent. The queen would be proud how abou dah.
I see you're still learning English...
Fuck that sentence. In England, they will accuse you for ruining their language.
Why do you sound like a Canadian lmao
Wait till Spanglish, Chinglish, Hinglish start creeping in.
Makes me wonder... what would you call an English/Polish hybrid?
@@rippspeck polglish
Tanzir Rahman not the way the inhabitants of English speaking countries have affected our vocabulary
@@megaraph5551 pogish
World best comment, I have ever seen in-between languages.
No language that is spoke across several countries is the same in all the countries. It's not the same in Ireland, the US, Scotland, England, Wales, Canada, or Australia. Just like in Spanish, we have different words for the SAME things! Stop taking the piss of the Americans, when your country itself speaks different dialects of the damn language!
Yeah the US english is getting more powerfull than UK english.
You can't change that
And I don't want to. North American English is like clear water for me....
Hahaha, the point of the video is for the brits to complain about something else 🤣
No language that is "spoken".........
@@dimasa5800 both are past tense and both work lol.
I’m an American, but my young American daughter speaks with a British accent. Thanks Discovery channel!
I can speak with an English accent too but I much pefer American the southern dialect.
My little sister thought she was British thanks to peppa pig even though both my parents are mexican
When Americans start speaking Scouse, then I'll really worry.
calm down calm down @@frisco21
Peppa Pig hahaha
Languages aren't meant to stay the same. Study some linguistics and you'll understand more about language.
Stone Heart is not necessary, but is a process that is going to happen eventually. They have many cultural differences and the geographical position is different, if those 2 things were the same, then language wouldn't change, but in real life something like this is impossible. Brits themselves have different dialects, where they spell and pronounce words differently from Standard British English, but nobody seems to complain, yes, american have different spelling, but so does modern Brits, the terminology currently used and spelling are much different than during Shakespeare's time.
The point for me isn't necessarily about stopping evolution, it's protecting regional accents and dialects from being crushed and homogenised by an outsider such as American English. And also stopping bastardisations like Estuary (a mix of accents due to centralisation) from eradicating unique dialects and accents like cockney and RP by slowly breeding them out. If these regional dialects go, then we can probably expect the unique slang, folklore, to disappear over time as well.
then we agree to disagree. :)
Languages do evolve, but I'd rather take the road that doesn't need help of another language.
Naldery well I'd say the globalisation just
"re-merges" the both to some degree (at least for the examples mentioned in the clip).
The other part being that we just very recently started to standardise languages (measured of the time their existence) the French and Hebrew speaking world for example go to great lengths to find native adaptions to new words that originated in another language. Whereas English and Germans traditionally do more of a documentation of actual usage.
And if you were to rip out every aspect of foreign languages in English you'd end up with some proto west Germanic, something that sounds a bit more like Dutch or Frisian.
I'm American and that dude called me "basic!" ... What a crumpet.
Trumpet?
“Basic” Yank....
That's "a muppet", you nugget!
Take it with pride. If there's one thing you guys are better at than the Brits, it's pride.
@@rippspeck you're saying Americans have more Pride than Brits? okay buddy.
Language is always evolving. Get over it.
In this instance, it's devolving.
no its really not, What do you call it when a language changes to better suit the people who speak it
Cant americans start speak cockney then
If your own language was being changed by a foreign people I doubt you'd say the same
Konoron okay boomer
As someone who isn't an English nativspeaker (it's German by the way), it is perfectly normal for me to use a variety of words from many different places. If I use AE or BE words mostly depends on personal prefference and the text I am writing. If I am in a hurry I would never Elevator but Lift.
The great thing about English is its abundance of words.
"Things are changing and that scares me!"
They are scared of the culture being the same everywhere. They don't want Britain to be Americanized due to our large influence on culture.
@@cs0345 It's funny to think of them not wanting their culture to be changed after they colonized america and destroyed native american culture
@@dylanhinkel3548 no no no "we" never, unless by "we" you mean a very select group of rich, powerful people hundreds of years ago.
@SINlSTER_666 im American. hate me
Who cares? The U.K. doesn't own the English language. More English speakers are from the U.S. than the U.K.. Every country has their own slang and way of saying things even if the language is the same one. Every Spanish speaking country has their own version of Spanish. Even if the language originated in a certain country, it doesn't mean they have the sole jurisdiction of how to say things and at what academic level it's used.
Sean Diment Point is Americans say that Brits are wrong and stops for storytelling that way even when they invented it.
Sumo Simo
And Brits don’t tell Americans that they’re wrong. We’re independent from the UK. We owe nothing. Don’t be one sided
I think American English and British English are a little closer than dialects of most other languages (eg. Canadian French is fucking white noise to me) to the point that we don't really consider them as separate. We still call it all "English" instead of splitting hairs into "American" and "Standard English" -- heck, Scottish English is so different from Standard English that they just called it "Scots" and branded it as a new language!
English people have a right to protect the fragile diversity of their accents and dialects. Few places on Earth have the diversity of accents that England has. I doubt America has anything resembling East London Cockney Rhyming Slang (I mean, how God damn specific is that?!) They don't talk of "trashing English," they talk of the extinction of THEIR English, which they do absolutely own!
Brits don't own the "English" language,if anything, the Germans,Spanish and French do,seeing as those are the places the language comes from.
The modern day people living in Germany and France have nothing to do with the people who influence the English language centuries ago. The English own the language because the people living in England today are the descendants of those who influenced it. Germany and France didn't exist 1000 years ago, and the Franks and Normans (the true influencing people on English) weren't German or French and were not native to those modern day regions anyway. "German" and "French" didn't exist then.
Spanish never had a lot to do with the development of English, mostly because Spanish is a modern invention. Castilian, Aragonese, Catalan, are the major languages of Spain outside Madrid, not Standard "Spanish."
So yeah, actually, England does own the language. Do you also claim that Dutch doesn't belong to The Netherlands? What about Flemish? Does Italian belong to only Tuscany? Whatever it is, by your logic America can never own English either
i can say americans dont panic when we here someone use a non american word, such as "bloody"....we dont sit around and wonder why american language is becoming more british...not a big deal. we embrace anything that expresses an emotion or powerful meaning or even anything that sounds trendy or fun
It's because American English is more dominant than British English. One influences the other, but the other one doesn't and that's a problem.
@@Make_Australia_British_Againwhy is that a problem? Would you say that English dominating the world (because of the brits) was a problem?
Over time, languages do evolve. Slang eventually turns to normal language and eventually maybe even creating entirely different dialects. Just as how Shakespeare invented most of the words we use every single day, and before Shakespeare, English would be VERY hard to understand.
Yes and no. You don’t actually know that, you just think it’s a ‘fun fact’ you heard someone else mention.
Shakespeare did invent a lot of modern phrases, but not in the way you think. Look into it more.
In Ireland mad is still used to mean angry, as well as insane depending on context.
Never thought of it until I saw this video. Also in some parts of rural Ireland the word 'vexed' is used instead of mad as in angry.
Mad has always meant insane, but the ancient Greeks said that being angry was a lapse in sanity. If you were violently angry, you were ‘mad’ (insane) because a sane adult wouldn’t react that way.
English is the world's lingua franca. For a lot of people who speak English as a second language, me included, the tongue is a mix of American and British so it's expected that it will keep evolving in different directions even outside of the countries where it's not spoken natively.
I don't understand. What's bad about adopting words from another language to enrich and expand one's own vocabulary? It not only makes communication easier but also brings the two countries closer together. Languages are constantly evolving. You can't always be tied to the past.
Xiran Wang because American English is bland and simple in a sad kind of way.
Antwain Clarke That’s subjective
Because British English isn't sticking to the past.
Antwain Clarke How so?
It's pretty much because of pride, I would say
Meanwhile in Australia we normally use both of everything.
That’s because Oz has been HYPER obsessed with the US since the 70s. The ozzy accent is about 70% US at this stage. Listen to recordings from the 1920s, now listen to 2020s, they used to have ozzy accents. Now you’re just Americans.
Ozzies also have this creepy obsessed rivalry with the states, like you’re both these two massive rivals, yet the US literally doesn’t even think about Oz..
US has rivalries with Russia and China, then friendly rivalries with Canada and UK
@@johntonssen7231 In Australia you get bullied if you speak like an American. And there is no such thing as an Australian rivalry with America. New Zealand yes, UK yes, USA never. What would Australia and America ever be rivals in?
yay! first world problems.
AGREED!
would you rather us talk about poverty and quality of water when there is currently nothing of such origin to be said in the United Kingdom or the United States?
"translation of French tiers monde first used in the 1950s to distinguish the developing countries from the capitalist and communist blocs." - Google
yea and thats the reason we dont use first second and third world much any more and use devolped and devoleping but developed world problems doesent roll off the tounge like first world problems
Americanisms are creeping into almost every nation due to their immense media influence and no not just 1st world nations.
I'm British and this is just trivial shit. I do say catch myself saying "like" as a filler quite a bit, which Is not ideal. However, I just think live and let live, it doesn't matter. I don't see the issue with adopting some words. I only find it irritating when spell check tries to correct my British spelling of a word to American haha.
So change your settings.
It would be a shame if thinks like Cockney rhyming slang and the Yorkshire accent died off because American culture overwhelmed it and people stopped using it. That's how I interpret the main concern in this video--the destruction of a local dialects
@@tacosmexicanstyle7846 There will always be varying dialects - this has happened in the past and will happen now - it always has been.... Unless its Japanese where it had been isolated and even then they don't speak the same as they always did before + they've adopted alot of (J)english like Taxushi, Albaito (german word for part-time) etc.
hey what's the alternative for awesome in British??
@@1lonelyCat words US Americans never use... Fantastic, beautiful, enormous, encapsulating, gigantic, scenic, gorgeous, panoramic etc, etc, etc. Only learnt one word... "awesome" so boring.
As a swss I can tell you that we are pros in terms of adopting words from other languages.
I wouldn't say that Americans are "trashing the English language", they have just been putting their own developments on the language owing to the vast mix of people who came to the area hundreds of years ago. While two countries can on paper speak the same language, they would have developed in different ways, like the types of German spoken in Germany and Austria for example. Or in terms of the same country a difference between the way French is spoken in Corsica and the rest of France
Ive noticed that americans tend to say rubbish a lot more often noadays...
It's those massive bell-ends formerly on Top Gear that are spoiling American
Da G dude you sound just like the brits in the video.
Fuck too :)
Ya think. As an American I hear people say crap all the time. Hell I just said crap. Oops I did it again
Harry Peach Not all of them, just their president.
Its in every country like that, the language is evolving, americans didnt trash it. Do you really think french canadians speak perfect French? Of course not. Even in one country, there are plenty of accents of one language, with its own words and expressions
United Kingdom-Traditional English
United States-Simplified English
Let the flame war start!
US is more developed than UK
Nah actually it makes sense. American English is filled to the brim with slang, and it seems like recently, memes are common place in american English. american English is still very specific like british english is famed for, but it's also easier to learn as a foreigner. The only hard part of American English to foreigners is that words rise and fall from popularity very quickly. The Americans create their own words for things which is replaced by another word in rapid succession
That is similar to ...
China(PROC)-Simplified Chinese
Taiwan(ROC)-Traditional Chinese
"Maths"
But America ain't commie…
The same way as Australians, South Africans, Scotsmen, and Irish.
It's basically that if language is spread into different regions on globe, the language will become different. American english is more used because of position of USA in global world. For me it's fine. UNTIL THEY SAY THEY DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH, THEY SPEAK AMERICAN. THAT DRIVES ME MA... *Ahem, INSANE.
eh but Australians speak British English... South Africans seem to be inhabited by a bilingual people who are just completely lost as to what their accent is (Dutch + English? LOL) Scotsmen and Irishmen always had their own local languages (both Celtic and offshoots of Old English), so they shouldn't be universally counted as Standard English speakers
@@yuuboi661 why lol 😂 alot of Americans don't know this but English is America's national language BUT it's not the official more then 239 million Americans speak American English while the other 7 million ppl either speak it as a secondary language
@@tacosmexicanstyle7846 AuEn is a bit different from BrE
For example words like:
Biscuits - bikkies
Chicken - chook
Sunglasses - sunnies
Sweets - lollies
Toilet - dunny
Barbecue - barbie
Trousers - daks
Where is my rubber?
Shubh Sharma eraser
It's an eraser lol
Rubber
Shubh Sharma in between the legs
No it is a rubber
American English is actually more traditional. It’s closer to English that was spoken in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than any British English accent spoken today. British accents have changed more over the last couple hundred years.
Interesting. Although I do think 'centre' is more traditional than 'center'.
(Fun fact, my computer is telling me that I have a spelling mistake on Centre, but not center, lol! Capitalized to fix it, maybe because we have a Centre county and a Centre street here XD )
I disagree. Typical American excuse to argue that "we are the normal ones, you're abnormal". Football refers to one and only one sport. Liberalism is not the ideology of socialism.
@Allen S You're proving my point. Americans don't understand how English language works.
@@voodooros 🤣 We speak the language every day, so what do you mean? We don't know how it works? Stop it bro.
@@iranianintelligenceagency9337 you dont know how it works. you speak a fake version of another countries language. its not even real english, obviously, because it doesnt come from England.
Actually, Brits are trashing the English language. Before the 1800s Brits pronounced R's at the ends of words; not any more. In fact R's are dropped after vowels and before consonants. This doesn't happen in US English. Also , many Brits drop L's at the ends of words. So basically the words "war" and "wall" have pretty much the same pronunciation, so do the words "pawn" and "porn". P's and K's are also droppes in words like "equipment", "like",... H's as well, as in "historic". Did I mention that T's are pretty much gone? You all heard of wa'er, wha', abou' i'... etc . This rarely happens in US English. So, will Brits end up speaking with vowels only? Maybe.
You also need to know the context in the sentence, since words like LOST and LAST are pronounced exactly the same, and the Brits pronounce the death out of some words, so PHONE sounds more like FINE.
Patrick Chubey ...coming from a waffling yank...there is a big difference between The way Lost and Last is pronounced you uneducated swine
@@patrickchubey3127 They are not actually. Cambridge dictionary shows that US lost and UK last have the same pronounciation, but UK lost is different
you don't pronounce the 't' in water.
No that's just accents
"There is British English and then there are mistakes"
- The Queen
You quoted it wrong, she didn’t say ‘British English’ because there’s no such thing. She said ‘there is no such thing as 'American English'. There is English. And there are mistakes.’
Because British English makes no sense, do you also say ‘German German’ ‘Spanish Spanish’ ‘french french’ etc?
No.
You identify the subvariant.
American English
Mexican Spanish
Brazilian Portuguese
Swiss German
Canadian french
Etc etc
@@johntonssen7231 you're right, british English should actually be referred to by its MANY subvarients on the isle
Loved this piece, and the narration by Tobias Menzies was spot-on!
I’ve always been curious about this very subject!!
Reminds me of how Americans get made fun of for usimg the word "soccer," but I remember hearing it has a British origin.
aSOCiation football. You are correct.
British origin, American word.
Also why call it soccer when the rest of the world calls it football.
Sumo Simo America, Australia, and Canada use the name soccer. And that’s because they have their own football leagues.
Sumo Simo
Because we’re ok with being different.
Marac Kon Japan says soccer as well. Literally half a billion people use the word
"British English" ??? Normal English you mean...
what da pavement? sidewalk? its a bloody footpath mate :-)
Japanese has evolved too over time. After world war 2 there were many English words that creeped into the language and Is written in their katakana alphabet. Also words from French and German and even Dutch has creeped into Japan and a lot of other Asian nations.
This is Literally the most relatable thing ever
Oh no, the colonizer is being influenced by the colony! What ever shall we do?! lol
Actually America uses an old form of the English language which means the USA is bringing back the old British English
Let them get influenced.
Or "Modern England" being influenced by "Old-based England(US)" because some 16th-19th century words survived in the US English.
I see US an extensioon of England, no difference.
Nice that the guy said we are simple, but we don’t take bullshit.
As a Brit, I literally couldn’t give less of a shit, there are bigger things going on in the world
How many people want to bet that old guy voted Brexit?
Now THERE's trash language.
There's a trash comment. You don't know one fucking thing about me but you think you know something, and you've decided to write a derogatory comment towards me voicing this fact free speculation. So, you're delusional and probably very stupid. Bring it on, fool!
@@HunterShows...
Yas queen slay ! Cash meh outsigh how 'bout dat! Imma keep' dis shit goin'!
Basically America is transitioning into the new era of the " slopication of America ". Not only is America ruining the English language, it's also ruining the fashion derived from European heritage.
If you want to witness America's slopication for your very eyes and ears, to see and hear, walk in to a Walmart.
• Look at what they're all wearing
• Hear what they're all saying
Awful.
Someone’s jealous. Maybe if Britain could conquer the world stage like they used to, they’d be able to retain their apparently jeopardized language.
My American English teacher used to grade me down for spelling it "centre" and "colour".
Intersecting when I went to visit my great grandmother in the south in 1960's she would say to me, 'go over yonder', to get this or that, we didn't use that word up north. When I started school we called the bathroom the Laboratory though. English has changed so much. However in some areas like Massachusetts I still hear what they call more proper English spoken. I lived on Martha's Vineyard for several months and it was quite different the words and pronunciation of everyday English. I still spell colour with the letter u. Thanks for the video.
Language is always changing. It's not like we speak like people in the the 5th century.
Try Portugal's portuguese and Brazil 's portuguese.
Aren't they sometimes labelled as separate languages? Brazilian Portuguese and just Portuguese? I don't think such a distinction exists between US and UK English
This is such a mad argument.
Interesting video, Economist!
Standardise, Standardise, Standardise. Lets ISO English, but then I am an Engineer.
DL V I think that’s part of the point in the video, different spellings...
The -ize is an Americanism, it was a joke showing the irony in advocating the standardizing of the English language when he was using the British spelling.
Still cant say aluminium though can they
Drew Wood or route
its pounced (a lum a num u num)
lmfao ''a-loo-min-um''
Love this video. I love lane. LOL I like how he educates them.
I live in Australia and I often use the term 'touch base' because I have heard other people using it. Never thought it has origin in baseball (and no one plays baseball in Australia).
American English is also different in generations and in different regions of the country. I think it’s great that languages are evolving more and more. It also happens with the Spanish language.
I love Queen's English cause that what we have been learning in school in India 😊
Aditya More
Your Indian English is worse than American English.
I was tought scottish english on scotland after i moved from norway
But you are no longer a part of the English empire. So you can't be speaking the Queen's English. The English don't speak the Queen's English. They just speak English, English.
@@wanderingwonderer5442 As an English person i can tell you now that Indians speak better English than the Americans,although the accents can be very strong their English is the closest form of the original when comparing the two.
@@holldolldee7582 Lol!
3:15 in Australia we call them foot paths :) & 3:47 mad in Australia is insane, angry and also a compliment "he's mad" :)
We can’t be trashing it if it not the Official language. America doesn’t have one lol
*rubbishing
Keep hearing the American date system used in the uk (I've month before day) and it annoys me cos the uk is right about this one - surely it makes more sense in ascending order ie day,month,year
Annoys me so much
Literally every where you go it's always structured by day/month/year. It's like Americans have never heard of the metric system.
It’s not our fault we impact the world in every little thing we do smh
It is just how people grow up with. I've heard that Month/Day/year is older than Day/Month/Year, making the first one a little more outdated, but hey, if it works, it works.
That's not true for all of us. Plus, it isn't as easy to switch over to the Metric System as you think it is. There are already massive projects going on in the US using the Imperial System so it would be a pain in the ass to switch those calculations to Metric. Also, the education system will have to make a massive transformation to the Metric system. There is a lot more stuff that will need to happen if the Americans try to switch to the Metric system. So, we're good.
Honestly, I don't even known which is US and which is UK for some words living in Canada. In China our English curriculum requires the British spelling for certain words (eg. "color" would be wrong). However, I code these days, where "color" is the standard spelling.
cool
@@OzPozzy278 "Color" is the original spelling of the word, as it is a Latin word. It was the French who changed it to "colour", even though it was initially written without a 'u' in French as well.
They don’t bullshit Around🙌🏾🙌🏾
Me : I couldn’t have said it better
English is a crazy language to begin with! It's so confusing. Why would Goose be Geese but Moose not Meese?
Because "goose" is an old English word of German origin, while "Moose" comes from Native Americans, and has no distinct plural. It's just a coincidence they spell somewhat similar in singular.
English is a technical (simple) language with lots of words and sometimes inexplicable spelling/pronunciation. The reason for it is that over time the new rules applied adapted the words for a fluent speaking. Probably, Germanic and Latin, and later French having different systems, colluded into English and created some words of unsound spelling and pronunciation. For one, English tends to stay faithful to the original form of the borrowed word, but distorts the pronunciation. So, I will go as far as to say English needs an overhaul of its spelling because it's not optimized at the moment. In some languages a Spelling Bee challenge is nonsensical for the literate.
I laugh so hard than I expected lol.
how did china get away with calling Starbucks starfucks ? do they really sell coffee there. That is missing from this bit. Maybe for the next video.
Short answer yes
It goes both ways you know, I hear plenty of people using "wanker" as an insult now here in the last decade.
Its so ironic that the british guy is talking about his language getting a bunch of new words from american english when most languages in europe is adopting new words and phrases from english all the time.
Even if it did homogenize, what's the problem with people understanding one another better?
Ryan King Why are we changing our English though? Why isn’t their English changing too?
@@hlog3902 there’s much less influence on them. By and large Americans don’t consume British TV or movies etc, but British people consume lots of American stuff so it’s a very asymmetrical process.
@What is my life I mean, more homogenizing means better communication, so why are people worried about it? Languages always change. English used to be very different (unintelligible) in the past. I don’t see the problem with English-speakers converging on a single dialect
@@ryanking2155 because nobody, no matter what the countries language, wants to be associated with america. theyre quite annoying and very obnoxious. especially those who make fun of others accents. you copied englands language, then you mock the people who it belongs to. and also you just mock europeans in general even though europe gave america 9/10 things it has today.
@@todimotska Literally all of this is factually inaccurate, or at least grossly generalized. But thanks for the comment ✌️
I'm in everywhere, it's fun to learn English Language from basic to very specific vocabulary.
Brilliant.
Language changes over the years. You would have a hard time understanding the English that was spoken before there was an America.
No you wouldn’t.
As a latino (first language spanish) I just realized we are doing the same the u.s.a is doing to english but with spanish lol
Realised*
@@johntonssen7231 ah yes, someone who’s butthurt because a different area uses different spelling
@@johntonssen7231nope
We should be more worried about how a language originated in an Island(British Isles) is destroying languages and native tongues across the world...
You should start with your part of the world, and how Arabic gibberish was introduced with fanatical Turkic invaders who had just recently converted to Islam, than completely messed up the culture of northern India.
*Real India nowadays is either confined to the deep south or deep in the Himalayas.*
Nothing is constant except change.
The French set up an 'Institute' to defend the French language. What is great about English and why it has become the major international language is simply because of the diversity of the English speaking world where the language is constantly refreshed and added to. What some people in Britain might consider a 'pure' version of English is not spoken here but rather by some highly educated people in India !
Language is also an expression of culture and shared experiences and whilst that awful phrase applied to Anglo American relations as "The Special Relationship" always puts my teeth on edge because it is so cringe worthy, I rejoice in the cultural bonds of the whole Anglosphere which is what keeps the language alive and fresh for all of us, may it long continue !
Give me a taste of that pure English. I'm curious.
Try reading the following : "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy. Now admittedly this is a Booker prize winner but there are quite a few others so if you like reading do a Google on Indian authors. The point being that just as Shakespeare, Dickens and so on are authors that write in a way that reflects the use and customs of language, these writers do also, orally they are different but on the page, hugely familiar. The most interesting aspect of this being why some Indian authors manage this structure to which there are probably numerous answers not least connected to an Imperial past and the origins of their scholarship no doubt.
John Haynes yeah fuck you french people. You caused ww2 and Hitler. Why'd you have to take revenge on Prussia like that? Shame. You already won you didn't need to try and denounce the United german peoples.
Broderick Kurtz
You are entitled to an opinion but frankly, I find yours rather odd to say the least.
Whilst one can correctly argue the the Treaty of Versailles was not the best way of preventing further wars, the economic situation and a global slump contributed as much to the rise of Hitler, something we should keep an eye on in our world today. You should also take into account that not only was the whole of Europe in shock as the flower of its youth had been mown down, WWI was the watershed moment of the Twentieth Century when everything changed and the "Old World" or "Old Order" died and the so called 'ruling elite' knew that they didn't have a clue what to do.
broderick kurtz Go look the Treaty of Francfort in 1871 and you will see where the french took exemple, you will see why the french wanted to take a revenge over Germany.
And don't forget that the USA and the UK did agreed on the treaty too.
Ferdinand Foch, a french general, leader of the allies armies in 1918 did say about the treaty of Versailles : "it's not the peace, it's an armistice for 20 years" because he knew that the treaty wasn't too hard for germany too make sure it wasn't a future threat for France in the future, and yeah he was right.
I like how they have to put subtitles for people to understand their British language
it's called the English language that Americans had to change for whatever reason from the rest of world's English speakers.
@@dotdotdot7440 why do you care?
English is the international language. So everybody can use it in every way they want it. Selfie!
What is in this video sounds like those things I've learned in Linguistics
American English is the greatest you have ever seen, in a bigly way.
I disagree
Phillip Leong We are the Masters of the universe.
No
'burglarize' ugghhh
Yes.
Well certainly .
British English has the Class
No.... British has not class.
but British++ has class. because it is object-oriented language. 😄😄
Shubh Sharma definately depends on what part of the UK you're in
We NeedChangeNOW TVP-TZM like your America is doing wonders by intervening in other countries and turning millions of civilians into refugees. If British English is more classy then American English this is the reality, nothing can change it.
Robin Bowen Bowker LOL I still cant understand the Scouse accent
We NeedChangeNOW TVP-TZM we cannot judge people or their culture by the actions of their governments. Just like we don't hate Japanese people by the actions of their Kingdom
A threat? That ship has long sailed. The popularity of a language is related to the strength and influence of the countries speaking it. Like it or not England no longer owns the English language. The language has become something much bigger. And the Americans own this English 2.0 quite simply because America is larger and more influential. Maybe British English could have influenced the EU, but with Brexit, that's unlikely now.
Make me Troll :P
You're the troll here.
You have made no point except to try to censor me. Your words have no value. Now be a good boy and go off somewhere to play snowflake.
The only reason british english had some influence in EU is because of the influence of the USA around the world making english the buisness and internet language
That’s actor Tobias Menzies narrating! I’d know that voice anywhere.
language is meant for to understand the feelings of opposite person, it donesn't matter for me which language or dialect you speak unless and until the other person understands it.
language doesn't improve or degrade, it just changes to fit the needs of its users
Even though I'm Australian, American spelling is great. It allows itself to evolve to be the most efficient and not to be constrained by ridiculous rules. America has and continues to perfect how English words are spelt. Well done America
Simply Yes
I love watching Lane Greene talking..
🥰
Two thirds of the world’s native Anglophones are Americans.
aperson22222 point being?
Special That our dialect should be considered the standard.
Harry Hammonds No, they represent a minority of people who use English every day.
Kyle Smit Actually we’re a good bit closer to the English of Shakespeare and Raleigh than you are.
Harry Hammonds Yes, but native speakers still have a certain pride of place. Shouldn’t most people for whom it is a second language pattern their speech on those for whom it is a first language?
By the way, I lived in Asia for two years and would definitely dispute the assertion that most Asians who speak English as a second language do so in the British style.
As someone who doesn’t speak English as a first language I find American English easier to learn and more logical than British English. Besides that AE is just more apparent in everyday life for me, in CZcams, the media in general, that is one of the reasons why I adopted it despite having learnt BE all the way up to 9th grade *exclusively*.
Yes,they are.Easiest question ever 😒
yes
I would argue that “Britishisms” are slowly creeping their way into American English as well, especially as shows like Downton Abby and Doctor Who have become so popular. And don’t forget all the other British pop culture, like Harry Potter and The Beatles! I was watching Ladies of Letters the other day and I just love how their dialect is eloquent by not haughty. Americans are enjoying saying words like “flat” and “rubbish,” among others...
I have literally never heard someone refer to an apartment as a flat or use the word rubbish casually.
The Economist and its language consultant should move their game on from mere vocabulary to use. I say "lift", not elevator, but I know what an elevator is, it isn't a problem. The same goes for sidewalk, diapers or the other Americanisms. I'm doubtful whether these words are "enrichments" (as claimed), but that's not the point. Americans tend to use the language incompetently, and this results in impoverishment.
An example from current youth-speak: "I'm good", when what is meant is "I'm well". Good is an adjective and refers by implication to one's behaviour - "good behaviour". "Well" is an adverb, and refers by implication to how things are going "how goes it?" So in both cases, we have use by implication - we don't have to spell things out, the speech-element does all the work. Abolishing "well" in favour of "good" (which probably won't happen, but just supposing) would impoverish the language and require (at some future date) a currently unnecessary elucidation.
More insidious is the tendency this suggests, and there it is: Ignorance of the adverb. There is a general tendency in American use to adverbialise adjectives: "the pilot landed the plane real soft". Anyone with a feel for the language is now searching in the meaning for something which could possibly be soft. This tendency is widespread in America and is referred to as "laziness".
Another tendency (and remember that tendencies grow) is the verbalisation of nouns. I grew up saying "how did you gain access to Mr. Potter's garden?" "Access" is a noun. But what the heck, just stuff it in as a verb. Impoverishment - it just makes the language less expressive. Again, there are many more examples.
Another tendency is the feckless use of jargon: "He was gaslighting her". And (fecklessly - get the implication?) abbreviations: "If you want to fix the RNF, you''ll need a JR3 from the HHRN. Aha.
Finally (for the moment) there are cultural invasions which can with every right be resented. British usage cultivates expletives of a sexual nature, American usage has scatological expletives. They can keep them. And on that note, an "ass" is a small member of the horse family, a sort of donkey. What Americans are obsessed with (and can't spell correctly) are arses, especially the retentive variety. Bye for now!
Yes...
As an American under 25, I hate the way the English language is evolving.
I
Care
Not
Do you know what language is not evolving? Latin. Do you want to know why it's not evolving? Because it's dead. It is the natural for a language that is alive and being used to change and evolve. You would not understand old English because it has changed so much. I'm not talking about Shakespeare, either. He's modern English. Of course, maybe I'm wrong. Can you translate this from old English me? sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/beowulf-oe.asp
Margarita Aguilar
Vulgar Latin may be dead, although it influenced the Romance languages. Latin evolved all the way to the 18-19th centuries. Now, Ecclesiastical Latin is still used. So it's in a coma, not dead yet.